Where are you going?

Start with the end in mind

What action do you want your audience to take?

Every time we stand up and speak, we are selling something. A product, a service, and idea or ourselves. Before you start writing any talk, answer these two questions: What is it you are selling? And: What action do you want your audience to take? In other words- start with the end in mind.

If you want your audience to make a buying decision at the end of your talk, you need to make sure that when the time comes for you to present them with a call to action they have learned everything they need to learn, and felt everything they need to feel and they are now ready and willing to take action when you finally give them the opportunity.

Great speaking starts with great writing. Plan your talk then write the script before you go anywhere near PowerPoint or create any handouts.

Your script, the content of your talk, needs to take your audience on a journey. Think of it like the story arc in a novel or a TV show. Your audience is in a certain place right now – such as being happy with how they shop and the food they buy. You need to take them on a journey which will educate, entertain, influence and inform them. So by the time you reach the end of your talk they have felt outrage at the way wildlife is suffering, indignant at the way some supermarkets are creating unnecessary landfill from their packaging, educated as to the way packaging inflates the prices of the food we buy and then ready to answer your call to action and decide to start buying food that is not packaged in plastic at all. (This is just an example, other worthwhile social causes are available)

When I teach people about Speaking with Clarity, I explain that this requires both great content and great delivery. Your content is your script – it is the words you say, and how you say them. You can learn how to speak with clarity on my Stand up and Speak course which is now open for registration. During the scriptwriting module, I will show you how to structure your talk so you can take your audience on the journey to your call to action and I share with you some really useful tools that will make it very easy to plan and write your scripts.